CFTC to Hold Open Commission Meeting

The CFTC announced that it will hold an open meeting on November 3, 2014.

At the open meeting, the CFTC will consider:

• CFTC rules concerning when "residual interest" must be posted by futures commission merchants;
• recordkeeping requirements under CFTC Rule 1.35 ("Records of Commodity Interest and Related Cash or Forward Transactions"), and whether to conform the text of the rule to no-action relief already granted by CFTC staff; and
• clarifications of the CFTC's interpretation of when an agreement, contract or transaction that contains embedded volumetric optionality falls within the forward exclusion and should not be considered a swap.

According to CFTC Chair Massad, the topics to be discussed at the meeting "are not major changes, but they are significant in making sure that manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, and other companies that rely on the derivatives markets to hedge routine business risks can continue to use them efficiently and effectively."

See: CFTC Press Release; Chair Massad's Statement.